Egypt's president reconvenes dissolved parliament

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 file photo, a general view of the first Egyptian parliament session after the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt’s official news agency says President Mohammed Morsi has ordered the return of the country’s Islamist-dominated parliament that was dissolved by the powerful military. (AP Photo/Asmaa Waguih,Pool, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 file photo, a general view of the first Egyptian parliament session after the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt’s official news agency says President Mohammed Morsi has ordered the return of the country’s Islamist-dominated parliament that was dissolved by the powerful military. (AP Photo/Asmaa Waguih,Pool, File)
/ AP

Morsi came to power after narrowly defeating Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in the runoff last month. Declared the winner June 24, he symbolically took the oath of office five days later at Tahrir Square, birthplace of the revolt that toppled Mubarak's regime on Feb. 11, 2001.

He took the formal oath the next day before the Supreme Constitutional Court and again at Cairo University before hundreds of his supporters, including many of the dissolved legislature's lawmakers. In his inauguration speeches Morsi hinted at his displeasure over parliament's dissolution and his own diminished powers, pointedly seating the speaker of the disbanded parliament, Saad el-Katatni of the Brotherhood, in the front row during the Cairo University ceremony.

Several hundred Morsi supporters gathered in Tahrir on Sunday night to celebrate his decision.

Morsi's move to reopen parliament came just hours after a meeting in Cairo with a senior U.S. official, who delivered a message from President Barack Obama assuring him of America's commitment to a "new partnership" with Egypt.

White House officials said Obama hoped to meet with Morsi during the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York in September.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns told reporters that Egyptians could rely on U.S. support as they try to realize their aspirations.

"Egyptians know far better than we do that their aspirations are not yet fully realized, but they can count on America's partnership on the complicated road ahead," Burns said.

Obama also invited Morsi for talks in the White House in September, Egypt's state television said.